One of the better parts of quarantine has been an increase in the amount of time I can read—and I am burning through books left and right. My dear friend and realtor,
Sara Hopkins
mentioned that she loved the cover of
Untamed
by Glennon Doyle and that it reminded her of an artwork by Kristi Kohut—well Sara, I love the way your mind works! Let’s pair books and art for this blogpost; two of my favorite things!
Untamed
has been the book that my friends and I have discussed during quarantine. As with many books there were parts I connected with, and many I didn’t but I think the overall message of living a life that is most true and wonderful to you (outside of other people’s expectations) is an important one. The cover has the most beautiful swirl of texture, bright colors, and a good dose of glitter.
Kristi’s bold colors, touch of glitter and kaleidoscope image seems to fit right in. Plus the neon frame is the perfect unexpected choice that aligns right with the author’s idea of thinking outside the box and living a life without barriers.
I’ll be honest, I’m just on the library waitlist for this one (Do you all use OverDrive and your local library’s app? It’s amazing.) but many of my friends and my husband have read this book. It’s set in the very rural country of North Carolina and, I’ve been told, has beautiful descriptions of nature in the Carolinas. Part mystery, part love letter to the south’s landscape—I am very excited to get my hands on this book.
Karin Olah’s Valley Layers
is a similar tribute to southern landscape and feels like it could be the cover itself.
This is the book I go back to again and again when I need a “reading refresh.” Do you have a book you go back to when you need to fall in love with reading again and you’re in a rut? It’s not my favorite book of all time—that’s
The Alchemist
by Paulo Coehlo—but it’s the perfect mix of creative, beautifully written, and a speed read that gets me in the right mindset for the next book. I read it recently again while I was in my own quarantine rut and it was just the soothing balm to my soul that I needed. I instantly loved
Rachel Walter’s Comet
when it walked into the gallery, and I think partly because it reminds me of magic and that wonderful Hogwart’s Great Hall ceiling
This book gives you a bit more than your idea of a “beach read.” It feels weightier but gives you that same wonderful feeling of speeding through a book and the perfect mix of happy and sad that you finished a book you liked. It follows two writers over a summer long challenge and is all about second chances. Betsy’s melting popsicles
have always given me that summer feeling of a delicious (and beautiful) popsicle that you can still save and eat while it’s beginning to melt. They’re both all about summer and second chances.
Sure, you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover but I have found people can fall in love with artwork for a myriad of reasons and one of those might just be it reminds you of a favorite book. That’s the wonderful thing about artwork—you can connect with it for so many reasons.
